Man Buys All 650 Foreclosed Properties In One County For $4.8 Million In Back Taxes

Why settle for scooping up one tax-foreclosed property when you can nab say, 650 of them in one fell swoop? Of course, being a millionaire helped in the case of one Michigan man who plunked down $4.8 million to buy every foreclosed property in a recent county sale. All he had to do was pay off the total amount of back taxes owed, and voila! He’s got a bunch of property and is the only one in county history to have pulled off such a feat.

The businessman says he just went for something that was available to anyone after authorities said the properties could sell as a package deal. He says it’s not like he’s the only one who could’ve gotten such a deal — he was just the guy who went for it.

“I paid all the back taxes that was due and that’s what the county wanted,” he explained to MyFoxDetroit.com.

Of course, some of his fellow hopeful buyers were a bit peeved to see all the properties go in a flash without the chance to bid on any of them. One particularly dumbfounded Canadian investor said his company had been willing to bid much higher than $4.8 million.

“The price we were willing to pay is like three to four times what they’re asking,” he told the news station. “If we knew it was going to happen like this, we wouldn’t even have spent any time. They could’ve made more money, I mean triple the money they made.”

The new owner of those 650 properties says he’s willing to part ways with some of the houses and has been flooded with emails from interested buyers. He’s even offering to sell for near-auction prices and says his situation as a private citizen will benefit buyers. Any lots or homes he can’t sell he’s going to donate.

“There’s no hype, they will just buy it at a realistic price,” he said. “And they can look inside before they pay for it, which they can’t do with the county.”